Hilary Duff Scores First Billboard #1 With Most Wanted LP

Hilary Duff has racked up her share of screen and radio hits, but when it came to the Billboard albums chart, she was never a bona fide #1, as her first two albums — 2003’s Metamorphosis and 2004’s self-titled outing — both debuted at #2.

Most Wanted — a compilation disc mixing Duff’s biggest hits with current “TRL” favorite “Wake Up” and other new tracks — lived up to its name its first week out. The collection sold close to 208,000 copies to become Duff’s best-performing debut and opens as Billboard‘s #1 album, edging out country singer Brad Paisley’s Time Well Wasted and Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi, according to the latest SoundScan figures.

Paisley’s latest debuts at #2, with scans of nearly 193,000, followed by Mimi, which moved close to 109,000 copies this time out and has sold more than 3 million copies over its 19 weeks in release. Coming in right behind Mariah — with more than 108,000 week-five scans — is the 19th installment in the Now That’s What I Call Music! franchise, featuring tracks from Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Destiny’s Child and Coldplay.

The week’s third-best debut belongs to Omaha, Nebraska, funk-rock outfit 311, whose eighth studio effort, Don’t Tread on Me, takes the chart’s #5 with first-week sales of more than 91,000. The album is topped in 311’s chart history by 1997’s Transistor, which moved more than 128,000 copies and came in at #4 its first week out.

The Black Eyed Peas’ Monkey Business grabs #6 this time around, moving more than 82,000 copies. Staind’s Chapter V, last week’s #1, took a 59 percent drop in sales, hitting #7 with over 76,000 scans. Faith Hill’s Fireflies comes in at #8 with close to 73,000 scans, followed by Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway, which sold over 62,000 copies to capture #9. Young Jeezy’s Let’s Get It moved 61,000 units, taking the chart’s #10 slot.

The Killers’ Hot Fuss jumps 18 chart positions this week to #11 with 60,000 scans — an 88 percent sales spike. Coldplay’s X&Y falls five spots to #12 with sales of 59,000 and change, followed by Green Day’s American Idiot, which sold more than 52,000 copies last week and has moved over 4 million since its release.

The latest outing from the Gorillaz, Demon Days, takes this week’s #14 with close to 52,000 scans, just in front of the debut disc from the Click Five, Greetings From Imerie House, which opens at #15 with first-week sales of nearly 52,000. Country trio Rascal Flatts takes the chart’s #16, moving more than 51,000 copies of their latest, Feels Like Today, followed by Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree, which netted week-16 scans of close to 49,000. Bow Wow’s Wanted follows at #18 with sales of more than 45,000. Sugarland’s Twice The Speed Of Life is it at #19 with 44,000 scans, and #20 finisher Gwen Stefani’s Love, Angel, Music, Baby sold more than 43,000 copies.

The chart is teeming with noteworthy debuts, including Taproot’s Blue-Sky Research at #33 with close to 28,000 scans, Silverstein’s Discovering the Waterfront at #34 with 26,000 plus sales, and singing sisters Aly and AJ’s debut disc Into the Rush at #36, with 24,000 scans. 10 Years’ Autumn Effect takes #72 with 14,000 copies sold, while the Soopa Villianz debut Furious finishes at #92 with 11,000 plus scans. Christian metal act Stryper’s Reborn, pre-ordered copies of which included an autographed Bible, opens as the chart’s #111, with close to 9,500.